An employee error at the Burlington Animal Shelter caused a dog to be euthanized last week before a family could claim him, the city’s director of animal services said Friday.

The pit bull mix had been held at the shelter six days before he was put down Wednesday — just hours before a family planned to adopt him. Strays taken into the shelter are required to be held for 72 hours before they are adopted or euthanized.

Michelle Lassiter had notified shelter employees that she intended to adopt the dog and was told she had until Thursday morning to claim him and pay impound and vet fees. She also left her contact information with an employee and asked to be notified if anyone claimed the dog or the shelter planned to euthanize him.

An internal investigation found that a shelter employee didn’t follow policies related to receiving and recording information about parties interested in animals held there, Burlington Animal Services Director Jessica Arias said Friday.

Each animal taken into the shelter has a file. An employee who spoke to Lassiter about the dog didn’t properly file her contact information. Arias said the issue is a personnel matter and was being dealt with “appropriately and swiftly.”

“We found that it was an employee error regarding the relay of information and that the information didn’t get relayed to other staff,” Arias said. “There are policies in place already that weren’t followed. We’re also reviewing those policies to strengthen them so this won’t happen in the future.”

The Lassiters awoke Jan. 6 to the barks of a soaking wet pit bull mix who’d made his way through the cold rain to their front porch in rural Alamance County.

Shivering and covered in what looked like paint-ball paint, the friendly mutt was taken in. He seemed housetrained and quickly made himself at home, cozying up to their children and Cybil, the family dog. Mike and Michelle Lassiter followed up on lost-dog notices but were unable to find his owner.

They and their children were already attached. He seemed to fit right in. He stayed in the yard when they let him out and acted like he was home. They named him “Si.”

But wandering dogs wander. Michelle Lassiter put Si and Cybil in the yard — and returned home Jan. 9 to find him missing. She saw an Alamance County Animal Control truck at her neighbor’s house. Si was inside.

Lassiter told the officer Si’s story and explained how they’d taken him in. She asked if she could have him back, but the officer said he had to take the dog to the shelter.

Lt. Mike Hoover of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department said its department policy to take found and stray dogs to the shelter to allow original owners to find and claim them.

Page 2 of 3 - “If he would have given her the dog off the truck, then there’s no opportunity for the real owner to get the dog,” Hoover said Friday. “If we have reason to believe it is your dog, we would return the animal to you. If we picked it up on a nuisance complaint, we’d hand you a warning citation and advise you to keep your animal up.”

Lassiter was frustrated but stuck with the process, placing calls to and eventually locating Si at the shelter. She says she and her husband were treated rudely by staff, who seemed to her to lack compassion for the animal.

They originally were told they’d need to pay the standard $25 impound fee plus $5 for each additional day Si was held there. Then, when they’d prepared to spring him, employees told them Si couldn’t be released without documentation of his rabies shot or payment of a $50 fine.

The Lassiters were given another three days. Their family vet agreed to vaccinate Si at a reduced rate. In the meantime, Lassiter was busy acquiring kennels and dog beds for Si.

She called Wednesday to make sure there wasn’t anything else she needed to do before they picked him up and was told Si had been put down earlier that day.

Arias was later notified of the situation and has been in contact with the family.

“We’re deeply saddened for this family,” Arias said. “It is really tragic that this happened.”

Arias was hired to her position last month and is Burlington’s first full-time animal services director. She said she was already in the process of reviewing adoption and shelter procedures with staff with the hope of improving them for animals and county residents.

“It’s unfortunate that this occurred before we were able to address this specific policy,” Arias said. “One of the first things we are working on is records and the policies of capturing all the information we can about an animal. It’s one of our priorities.”

Arias said the shelter works with pet owners to see that their animals are returned, and that if shelter fees are an obstacle, staff will work with them.

The shelter requires found animals to be held at least 72 hours. Animals surrendered by their owners are held at least 24 hours before they are euthanized. The shelter holds animals longer when space is available.

Lassiter said that Arias has since “gone above and beyond trying to make this right for us.”

And though it’s too late for Si and her family, Lassiter takes some comfort in knowing that communication issues at the shelter have been addressed.

Page 3 of 3 - “We just don’t want this to happen to another family, or to another animal,” Lassiter said.